Superbike: Vermeulen & Kawasaki Update

It’s been 10 weeks since Chris Vermeulen underwent surgery on his right knee, and the Kawasaki Racing Team World Superbike rider updated fans on his YouTube channel.

Vermeulen, who is still on crutches, fell hard at Phillip Island, and hasn’t raced since in the 2010 World Superbike season.

Chris Vermeulen says: "I’ve had a ten week check-up since my operation in Barcelona and they (the doctors) are really happy and surprised with how my knee looks. It was a major surgery. I got a new piece of meniscus on the lateral side of my knee where it was very badly damaged and I also got a new ligament."

"It was a very big job and a complete recovery is around nine to twelve months before my body can accept the new parts. But after ten weeks I have over 90 degrees bend in my knee and I’m working hard with my physio doing 20 minutes of work on the knee every hour that I am awake. In three or four weeks time I might be able to throw the crutches away."

Vermeulen is expected to be healed before the January 2011 testing of the all-knew 2011 Kawasaki ZX-10R Superbike. Currently, Kawasaki riders Tom Sykes and Katsuaki Fujiwara are both conducting some testing work on the new ZX-10R.

Chris Vermeulen says: "With the rate of my recovery, I will definitely be able to ride the bike at the end of December or January, which fits in great with Kawasaki’s testing. At the moment we plan to start our new year test early in January. The doctors say I won’t do any more damage to my knee when I’m on the bike."

Vermeulen attended several consultations in July with a renowned sports surgeon, Dr. Pruna in Barcelona, where the No. 77 Kawasaki Superbike rider underwent further scans to analyze the extent of his complicated right-knee injury.

The decision was made for the Kawasaki Superbike rider Vermeulen to undergo key-hole surgery to repair the two of the three damaged ligaments, providing the stability in the knee that has been such a problem for him over the last few months.

The post-rehabilitation will be intensive therefore he will be based at his residence in Andorra, near to Barcelona, for physiotherapy for two months after the operation. A full recovery is estimated between four to six months.

Vermeulen has been suffering with the injury since the Phillip Island Superbike race and is relieved to finally have a plan of action to ensure a return to full fitness in time for the 2011 Kawasaki race program.